When Violence IS the Answer
by Loop de Luayn
Summary: "'Keith, you can be a ranger and can have as many black belts as you want,' Kate said shortly, cracking her knuckles, 'but when you're leader of Almia's Flash Joltons, you SEE things. You see things, hear things, and LEARN things. A little karate ain't going to freak me out. Those Dim Sun dimwits, on the other hand…'" alternate title: Pokemon Ranger: Shadow Gangs of Almia
1. Kate Hitomi, Flash Jolteons

**(Rated T for minor violence, cursing, and… yeah. If there was a halfway point between K+ and T, it's probably this.)**

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"Ah… what a fine job you did…"

The teacher in front of Kate chuckled with a sinister grin on his face, as the (slave?) Pikachu scurried over to his side and he reached down to stroke it. Bending up slowly, he said, "My name? It is Kaplan… Dr. Kaplan, that is. By proving your worth with that styler just now, you have now unwillingly become a member of our top secret army, Team School." He laughed chillingly. "You may keep that school styler as proof of your membership - or confinement, I might say. And perhaps together, when you have risen up to your rank, we shall go on to rule the world…"

Kate cocked her head.

She mulled it over a bit.

Then, two seconds later, she decided that attending a ranger school without any sass would be utterly and completely worthless. "You on meds or something?"

Kaplan jolted. "Excuse me?"

"I said, did ya forget to take your daily medication today, or are you just a crackpot by default?"

Kaplan bristled, brushing down his coat. "Er- Do not talk to your ruler as such," he said, standing up a little straighter, "I am the one and only prestigious leader of the ambitious Team School, Doctor-"

Kate's face morphed into a dark leer that was ten times more menacing than Kaplan was earlier. "And I'm the champion of Almia," she interrupted, chewing her gum noisily. "Cut the crap, Dr. Smartass, 'cause I'm not going to stay quiet about nutjob teachers at this school."

Kaplan, bewildered by the sudden and bizarre change in personality, chucked uncertainly. "Haha, ahem-" He cleared his throat, deciding to end things before they got out of hand. "No, no," he waved his hands around, "Sorry. I was just joking around-"

"Oi, people like me don't take Tauros shit from anyone, if you know what I mean," Kate drawled, adjusting the yellow bandana she tied around her neck above the school uniform. "There's a particular torture method we Jolteons like to use, and practice never hurts," she added, eyes shining with a wicked glint.

Kaplan instinctively took a step back. "No, really," he stammered, eyeing Kate's beat combat boots with trepidation - it was against the school's dress code, but it wasn't as if he was going to tell her this now, was he? "It's a tradition for all the new students-"

"Oh sure," Kate laughed, rolling her eyes. "It's tradition - like I haven't heard that one before..."

"-and… Jolteons?" he suddenly blurted, finally catching a part of Kate's sentence. He laughed shakily, suddenly far more nervous than he was before. "Haha, ha, very funny! You can drop the act now!"

When there was no response from Kate (who was somewhat confused), Kaplan muttered, "You- You're not serious- You can't mean Almia's Flash Jolteons, right? That rebel g-gang, you can't be a part of it-"

Whoops. Kate winced at her mistake. She could tell the gang she tried later. "...Well," she jutted out her chin, "I already am a badass leader of an ambitious and secret army, so to speak, so no, I'll have to reject you on your offer. And now that you've found out my secret…" She made sure her smile bordered on the edge of insane, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "...you have to DIE."

None of this was making any sense to Kaplan. "No no no, please don't, the timing was just too good to resist," he started, beginning to shake as Kate moved nearer. Edging backwards, Kaplan tripped over his own foot and stumbled onto the ground. "I- I really don't mean-"

"KAPLAN!"

Suddenly the door flew backwards and landed on the ground in an impressive display of strength. Kaplan jumped and yelped, already scared out of his wits _before_ the door was kicked down. Kate pivoted around with lightning speed, a long wooden tube in one hand and a bottle of Spinarak poison in the other - both of which she had whipped out from the inside of her school jacket - only to see the sharp point of a high heel.

"Oh please, Mr. Kaplan," said a pretty young woman as she lowered her leg and walked into the room on her high heels, casually brushing the excess dust from the door frame off of her skirt, "Please don't tease my students with a silly performance like that. That was a bit unnecessary," she added curtly, as if she hadn't just violently kicked a door down seconds ago.

"Ms. April!" Kaplan blurted. "This student here - she..." He suddenly frowned. "Wait, unnecessary? Says the one who just-"

"Anyways, congratulations, Kate!" said the teacher - Ms. April apparently, turning to face Kate. Kate fumbled and dropped the blow dart shooter. "Based on that happy little Pikachu there, I can tell you that you've passed the entrance exam with flying colors - quite quickly, I might add. Starting today, you are officially a student of the Ranger School!"

"Sandra, I don't think that's the best idea," Kaplan suddenly said. Ms. April - whose first name was presumably Sandra - bit back a scowl, and Kate made sure to keep an innocent expression on. "I was about to tell you that just minutes ago, I, uh, was personally a recipient of the violent actions that this student-"

"Mr. Kaplan," she interrupted kindly, "after that alarming, strange and terribly unfunny stunt you pulled, I think that Kate here has the right to take some form of defense."

"Uh- Ahaha, that's _very funny-"_

She gave Kate a blindingly bright smile, ignoring Kaplan, and Kate nodded firmly like she knew exactly what was going on at the moment. "I'm Ms. April," the young woman said. "I'm your class's teacher. It's very nice to meet you!"

"This isn't acceptable Sandra," Kaplan said, "this is a violation of our school's policies-"

"It's nice to meet you too!" Kate replied, smiling politely.

"She's part of the Flash Jolteons, a_ gang for crying out loud-"_

Swiveling around towards the gaping empty hole where the door used to be, Ms. April exclaimed brightly, "Well, Kate, your classmates are waiting for you! How about you follow me to-"

Kaplan jumped in front of Ms. April, now holding the blow dart shooter that Kate had left rolling on the ground earlier. "Proof! Proof!" He shook the weapon in front of Ms. April's face like a deranged Primape. "You _can't deny_ that this _weapon_ that this student was carrying isn't allowed on school grounds, it's listed in the student handbook-"

_"My flute!"_

Kate beamed, grabbing it out of his hands and stuffing it into her jacket before Kaplan could realize it only had two holes. "Thank you Mr. Kaplan! My grandfather gave it to me, it's one of our family heirlooms that have been passed from generation to generation," she blurted, following one of the Jolteon's favorite sayings - fake it till' you make it - "if I had left it here and thought I had lost it but hadn't lost it but didn't know I hadn't lost it I don't know what I would have done… thankyousomuch!" Kate made sure to nest it between her hidden darts and bottle of poison, among the other various weapons she was carrying around that no one knew about. Yet.

Kate wasn't sure if Kaplan could see them, but if he did, his reaction sure did make sense. "That's- Why would you- What the_ hell-"_

"Talk to the hand, Kaplan, talk to the hand," Ms. April said, holding up her palm and pushing it into his face. As Kaplan began his muffled objections, she sighed, wiped Kaplan's spit off onto her clothes, and turned around. "Come on Kate, we've dealt with Mr. Kaplan's deranged fantasies of secret armies long enough."

As Ms. April gracefully picked up her skirt and stepped over the broken door on the ground, moving through the doorway, Kate lagged behind her, kicking the door out of her way with an errant boot and popping her bubblegum obnoxiously. "Bye Mr. Smartass!" she called over her shoulder. "Have a nice day!"

"I'll be watching you, Miss-so-called Kate Hitomi," Kaplan bit out, warily watching Ms. April disappear from view. "Maybe no one will believe me, but I will, because I know how to do things. I'll find out your secrets, you gang leader, you. I'll do whatever it takes for you to get expelled," he hissed at her.

"You've just made an enemy of the entire Flash Joltons. Come at me bro!" Kate taunted with a dangerous smile, thumping her fist twice against her chest without even turning around. (Her gang members would be so proud.)

As she was about to walk through the door, she paused for the briefest of moments. "If it's not meds, then maybe drugs," Kate muttered loud enough for Kaplan to hear, a true sadist at heart. "I've seen way too much of that stuff back in the day… would Seviper venom be better...?"

Silence. Kate laughed evilly, the sound echoing throughout the room as she left a pale and nervous Kaplan. Being a new student was so much fun.

* * *

_skip if you're lazy INFO:_

_'Sup everyone! Luayn here, and welcome to my… haha, I have no idea what this is. It's not a story, that's for sure. Nonetheless, this originated from three requests from people I know real life all mushed up into one thing:_

_1. Write a story where you make a character totally opposite from what they're supposed to be butatthesametimetheyARE_

_2. Write a story on a game you've never played before and are not currently playing! (I mean, I know the plot, and I've played Pokemon before in general of course, but I just don't own a ranger game right now - walkthroughs are so entertaining)_

_3. Write a story without making any plans about plot or characters or anything beforehand - in other words, quote, "Wing it man, wing it!" (? Why am I friends with you again?)_

_I apologize if I have ruined this ranger game for you, made you afraid of Kate, and emotionally scarred you for life; furthermore, if this turns out to be a train wreck, crashes and burns, and explodes in your face, I'll just say right now that I'm broke and can't pay for insurance. I don't know when I can update, I don't know if I should update, I don't know what the safety of your children will be like after this story, and I don't know the answers to life. _

_So… happy reading! Peace! #YOLO _

_"Then, two seconds later, she decided that attending a ranger school without any sass would be utterly and completely worthless." #YOLO_

_(HASHTAGS WHAT HAVE I DONE ORZ)_


	2. Keith Dazzle, stupid

Ms. April was late. Keith, arm over his eyes, had his chair tilted backwards and had decided to snore the free time away when he detected a vicious, evil aura lurking over him, as if it was attempting to inflict terrible nightmares to him during his holy nap period. The presence casted a ghostly shadow over his body and his soul, and he waved his other arm without looking in front of him to ward off the devil.

"Rhythmi, buzz off," he grunted, "I'm trying to sleep."

"Yeah, you Snorlax," Rhythmi's annoying voice floated somewhere above him. It was hard to ignore her when she was standing right in front of him, but Keith tried to tone her out anyway. "Wasn't the library your personal nap room, not the classroom?"

He failed. Trying out another tactic, Keith lifted his arm up with as much energy as he could muster, squinting at her. "Who are you again?"

"Rhythmi Orchard. I'm your awesome dictator. You do all my homework and piggyback me around all day."

Keith smirked, putting his arm back over his eyes. "I'm sorry, top rangers like Keith Dazzle don't talk to second-class operators. You can try again after you make an appointment."

"As if," Rhythmi scoffed. "Wait until you're the one making appointments to see me, then you'll be sorry."

When he didn't bother to respond, Rhythmi kicked his desk not-so-gently. "What do you think the new student will be like?" she asked.

Keith had put his feet on top, so when it suddenly moved, it was no surprise that he almost fell over. Glaring at her while trying to regain his balance, he muttered, "Hopefully not prissy suck-ups with stupid last names."

"Don't get me started on your last name, Dazzlepants."

"Orchard? What are you, some kind of mutated berry from alien land?"

"If you're talking about fuzzy berries with long red antenna sticking out everywhere, I have a good example right in front of me."

"Actually, no, I made mistake. Even sour alien food wouldn't use as much hairspray as you do. I think you beat Mr. Kincaid for the award," he added as an afterthought.

Keith grinned as Rhythmi balled her fists, knowing he hit a soft spot. As she started to rant about the benefits of hairspray for girls, a mystery he would never understand, Keith mulled over this new information with his eyes closed. Apparently there was a new student coming in, which explained why Ms. April was running so late… Keith hadn't really bothered to pay much attention to class, but he had heard the words "new" and "student" somewhere, so it was probably legit. Anything Rhythmi said was usually legit anyway.

Well, unless it was about him. Nothing Rhythmi ever said about Keith was true. He didn't wear pink boxers, he didn't smuggle cookies in his backpack, his styler did not have pretty glittery keychains attached to it, he didn't carry stuffed animals, he did not cheat on all his ranger tests, and he _may_ or _may not_ drool on his pillow at night. (There was no proof.)

"-and hey, are you even listening?" Rhythmi suddenly said, snapping Keith out of his thoughts.

"Of course," he snorted. "I don't know what you got out of that conversation, but what I got was that I'm a pretty badass ranger."

In a flash Rhythmi had a pen clicked out and at his neck, holding it as if it was a knife. "You weren't listening, you arse," she snapped. "Get your facts right: one, you're a ranger-in-training, as long as you miraculously end up graduating; two, I'd so cut your throat right now if we weren't waiting for Ms. April to show up."

Keith grinned lazily. "You wanna go, poofyhead?"

"Bring it on, jackass."

There was one more thing that he had failed to mention: Rhythmi and him were known across the school for having the most epic fights ever.

"Settle down, settle down everyone!" As Ms. April walked in with a cheerful air around her, the classroom door swinging behind her, everyone burst into more chatter than before.

"Were you talking to the new student?"

"You were, weren't you Ms. April?"

"Where are they from?"

"Why'd it take so long?"

"Are they going to be a ranger or an operator?"

"Is he or she nice?"

"Is he or she hot?"

"Do you think anyone cares if they're hot?"

"Do you think I care that you care?"

"Do you think I care that you care that I care?"

"Ms. April, can you make these two _shut up?"_

"I'll repeat myself one more time - everyone sit down and be quiet," Ms. April said tightly, a dangerous smile on her face, and Keith hurriedly slammed his chair back down onto the ground as Rhythmi scurried back to her seat, pen nested behind one ear. Everyone hurried to rearrange themselves back into a perfect model of a classroom, chatter dying out like the last puff of a candle flame.

He and Rhythmi may have the most epic fights schoolwide, but no one messed with Ms. April. _Ever._

"Now that we've all settled down," Ms. April said brightly, with the underlying hint of "don't make me hurt you", "I'm sorry to keep you waiting class! And good morning everyone!"

"Good morning Ms. April!" ("We will obey your every command!")

"As I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member for our class," Ms. April continued.

A student sitting at the front of the class jumped out of his seat, obviously unaware of the strict hierarchy system that was their classroom. "Hey, is it a boy or girl?"

When Ms. April didn't respond, eye muscle twitching, the boy exclaimed, "I knew it - it's neither, isn't it? That's why you wouldn't tell us!" He twisted around. "I told you guys it was a Pokemon! But none of you listened!"

Keith put his elbows on his desk and his face in his hands.

"...How about you see the new student for yourself?" Ms. April finally said, apparently deciding not to acknowledge the strange, strange conclusion her student came up with. "You can come in now, Kate!" she called.

The student apparently named Kate pushed open the doors in the back of the classroom, and the first thing Keith noticed when he lifted his head from his hand were her eyes. They were a bright blue that glittered softly underneath her chestnut bangs, full of life.

Keith froze at his desk. He had never seen eyes like hers - the way they glimmered, reflecting light from the windows like a pond, snatched his breath away in an instant. They were absolutely stunning.

...For a girl, that is.

Her hair was done in spiked, spunky ponytails to compliment, with bright yellow elastics to match the bandana that was tied around her neck. Her bangs softly framed her pale face, and she brushed them out of the way as she walked up to the front of the class. The way she moved, a bit careless and shy at the same time, made Keith think that she most likely didn't particularly try hard with her hairstyle, and she didn't look like she was wearing make-up either (as far as he could tell). She didn't give the impression that she tried hard, but she was still really pretty.

...For a girl, that is. That's what he meant.

Not like he cared or anything.

Not like it was important. Keith still was confident that he was top in both the looks and the skills department, and that's pretty much all that mattered.

"Hi," she said, all perky and optimism, like he would expect from any new student full of hopes and dreams. "I'm Kate Hitomi, and I've lived here for a while, but I just decided to enroll in this school. I'm here to become a ranger!" she exclaimed cheerfully, smiling.

Keith couldn't hold back his snort. It didn't matter whether she was cute or not, she was an airhead. Sorry kid, but only Keith was the best around here, and there was no room for girly, giggly styler-twirling idiots in second place.

Then she jut out her chin, grinning maliciously, and this was the moment when Keith's first impression of her came crashing down to reality. "And if any one of you messes with me on my way to the top..." She paused, narrowing her eyes at Keith in particular. "...you're going _down."_

A couple students laughed awkwardly, thinking it was some sort of failed joke. Keith, an experienced threat-maker himself, knew that she was being serious. Trading glances with Rhythmi in a temporary alliance, he raised his eyebrows and grinned. He had been planning to go easy on her, but now it was on. Oh, he'd make sure to crush her sparkly, adventure-filled ranger wonderland in seconds flat.

"That's the spirit!" Ms. April cheered, as he spared a glance out the window. (Keith was unsure whether she thought it was some friendly Trubbish-talk or actually knew it was a threat and encouraging violence. Knowing her, it could swing either way.) "I understand our new friend Kate scored quite well on our entrance exam, so for all you future rangers out there you're going to have some competition!" (...?)

Ms. April caught his happy-go-lucky mood out of the corner of her eye and glanced over his way. "What, Keith? Why the big grin?" she teased.

Surprised, he flinched and dropped his grin. Noting his reaction, she turned to face him and questioned, "Have you been staring out the window the entire time?"

Crap. He was not going to be called to detention again for something he didn't do. "It's because it's so beautiful outside-" he blurted; then, suddenly thinking of something, he added, "-just like you!"

He winked, ignoring the urge to glare at Rhythmi's smirk. Ms. April just looked amused. "Sure, sure," she said, waving off his compliment. A couple girls around him giggled, and Kate raised her eyebrow. "Kate, how about you sit next to that jokester Keith over there," she said. "You can't complain if he'll just shoot you compliments all the time, isn't that right, Keith?"

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding awkwardly. His forced smile turned into a wince. Oh shit - Rhythmi was going to hold this over him for life.

Kate, on the other hand, seemed to blow an annoyed breath out. She muttered something like "wait until the gang heard about this one", walked over, and sat down next to him. Up close, he could see that she was chewing bubblegum. He didn't like bubblegum ever since that taboo incident with his hair in seventh grade, and he especially didn't like that the way _she_ was chewing it, and he didn't like how she hated him already even without talking to him, and he didn't like how she just had the nerve to threaten everyone when everyone knew that_ he, not she,_ was going to be the best ranger, and ARCEUS DAMN IT THIS GIRL WAS GOING DOWN IF IT WAS THE LAST THING HE DID.

"Let's do it everyone... Let's not fail your dreams of becoming Rangers, Operators, and Mechanics!"

"YEAH!" Keith hadn't really been paying attention and was pretty sure he was shouting for the wrong reason, but whatever. He fist-pumped with the eagerness of a psychopath about to set the town on fire with his Charizard, and Ms. April told him to sit down.

Needless to say, after Ms. April droned on about the basics of the styler and reminded everyone that they had a free period - "I'll be in the Staff Room if you need me, but I'm mostly sure you won't have to go that far!" - Keith watched eagerly as everyone gathered around his new classmate. A new classmate was big news, he had to admit, even if she was pretty rude and unlikable, since everyone around here grew up with each other and knew each other well. "Where do you live in Almia?" asked a girl, the first to speak. "I've never seen you around here before."

Kate tilted her head. "Uh, well, I've actually lived in a lot of places around Almia, and I used to live in Fiore when I was little. Plus I don't really go out much…"

"Do you have family members?" someone else asked.

"Yeah, I have a dad and a little sis," she said. Keith noticed she never said anything about a mother.

"What's your favorite Pokemon?" asked a third.

"Jolteon," she immediately piped.

The student's eyes immediately bugged out of his sockets. "Like the Flash Jolteons?"

"What is it with the Flash Jolteons and everyone?" Kate looked uncomfortable. "Oi, listen, I like electric pokemon, and I don't like hearing them getting dissed 'cause some group's using them. Just because they're the name of a gang, that make all Jolteons evil? Are the Flash Jolteons even evil anyway?"

"Of course they are!" a girl exclaimed. "They terrorize people and commit crimes!"

"They attack people with feral pokemon with rabies!"

"They rob stores and tie the shopkeepers up with rope up to trees!"

"I heard that they kidnapped innocent kids once and held them for ransom!"

"No," she shook her head, narrowing her eyes, "they don't. That's just what everyone says they do."

"How would you know?" Suddenly it seemed like everyone took notice of her yellow bandana and elastics at once. "Are you part of it?"

"...So I wear yellow 'cause my favorite color's yellow, and you morons immediately think I'm part of a gang? Tauros shit! What are you guys, like ten?" Everyone seemed to simultaneously blow a sigh of relief. It seemed like there was something off about the way she said it though to Keith.

"Are you a Ditto?" someone behind her asked.

She paused and turned around. "...What?"

"You're a Ditto, aren't you!" It was more of an exclamation than a question. Pokemon kid raised his hands. "See guys? See? What did I tell you?"

Kate looked weirded out, along with most of the class. "The hell?"

Keith finally decided to end the stupid parade before anyone could say anything else. "Hey, new kid, how long did it take for you to capture Pikachu? Like an hour?" he quipped.

The kids around them, including Rhythmi, fell silent, wanting to hear what she would say. "Ten minutes!" Kate said, turning around stiffly to face him. She smiled sweetly. "I'm sure that's shorter than in your dreams, isn't it?"

"Psh," he scoffed, instantly not believing her. "Lying Lotads aren't going to get anywhere in this school, let alone help you become a ranger, kid."

Amused, she leaned on her desk with her elbows, her eyes flashing evilly. "And who says I'm lying?" she said, chewing her gum.

"Well, it's impossible," he said slowly, getting a little unsure, "since no one has ever beaten my record of twelve minutes and seventeen seconds." He shrugged. "At least make up something believable before you work your way up, idiot."

She blew a pink bubble and popped it. Kate seemed to be getting angry. "So just 'cause something doesn't fit into your view of things, you're calling me a liar?"

"No, I just don't believe that someone like you could figure out what Pokemon were before you ran out of time. Are you sure you didn't ask for help?"

"Listen, you jerkwad-" Kate slammed her boot onto her chair fearlessly and a couple people jumped, "-I don't feel taking anymore of your cocky comments today, so how about you shove whatever you're going to say next down your throat or I'll personally do it for you?"

Keith grinned cheekily. "Whatever you say, Princess."

She looked like she was going to murder him. "Asshole," she hissed, pulling her yellow bandana off with a single tug. "You have no idea what I could do to you-"

Rhythmi stepped up. "As much as I'd like to see Dazzlepants get beat up by a girl - well, apart from me," she said cheerfully, pocket blade flashing in the air as she twirled it with a finger, "Ms. April told me to show Kate around, and you wouldn't want to get her mad, right Keith?" She winked at him, and Keith remembered what the embarrassing thing he did earlier. "Besides, it's best to ignore show-offs before they get big heads. Come on Kate," she called, walking away, "I think we're going to become really good friends!"

Kate took one look at the weapon and the dangerous glint in the blonde's eyes and grinned like there was no tomorrow. "Me too!" she said merrily, following her towards the door. "How about we start being best friends today?"

"That's a great idea! Bye Keith!" Rhythmi swung the small knife down in the air like she was chopping up imaginary heads as a goodbye wave, and this plus the implied alliance against him did not do anything to sooth Keith's energy.

He wasn't nervous though. If anything, he was excited. "Don't get lost, airheads!" he shouted after them.

"Says the dork who can't even navigate through his hair!"

"Yeah right!"

"Oh, Keith, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to make you jealous!" He heard the slap of high-fives.

And thus was the start of a beautiful friendship...

Keith, awesomest almost-ranger in the history of rangers, leaned back in his chair. _…as if._ That kiss-ass Kate thought she was hot stuff? Please. He'd kick both her and Poofyhead into the dirt before either of them knew what hit them.


	3. Third Chapter and Someone Dies

"Operator?" Kate repeated blankly.

"Yup!" Rhythmi exclaimed. "I love Pokemon, but for some reason, they don't seem to like me," she said lightly as they walked down the hall, twirling her pocket knife between her fingers like it was a pencil, "so I couldn't really be a ranger. And operating turned out to be just as fun, so I was like, 'Hey, why not?'" She turned the corner into a large empty space inside the school that Kate had noticed earlier, raising both arms and crossing them behind her head. "I don't think I'm the best, but at least if that blockhead figures out how to graduate I'll be able to boss him around like my slave," she added.

"Forever and ever, until he gets fired…" Her eyes took on a dreamlike shimmer, mouth unconsciously turning up in a malicious grin, and Kate decided that she loved this person.

The tour wasn't half-assed either. Rhythmi was walking alongside her as she led Kate around the school, completely cheerful and at ease. She pointed out the different classrooms and the teachers that went along with them, as well as gave her helpful information like which students to avoid and which ones to become friends with, which bathrooms to avoid and which ones to become friends with, and the top three best escape routes from the school in case it was on fire or something. (Kate knew damn well that she would be using them for _more_ than just for fires, but it wasn't as if anyone would figure that out until it was too late...) As a fail-safe, she had slipped one hand into her jacket in case Rhythmi tried anything funny, but at this point it seemed okay. Plus, anyone who disliked Redhead-Jackass immediately gained her respect.

The only issue was that the school seemed a little dull. Boring, Kate had learned the hard way, was good because it usually meant safe. But it made her feel a little paranoid, and her muscles were burning for some action. There was one story about an awesome prank that happened in the hallway involving ten Doduos, melted butter and a lot of hairspray, but most of the stories had to do with the history of school, the principal, and sometimes the potted plants. (While Rhythmi was wrapped up in telling her about how they were forbidden to turn the plants so that they each received the right amount of sun, Kate stuck a piece of gum on the underside of one of the leaves, and then turned it just for the heck of it.) Her third decision of the day, after making Rhythmi her best friend and Mr. Smartass her worst enemy, was that she should probably spice things up a bit. Her luggage upstairs had smoke bombs that were just waiting to be used, and Kate knew that she didn't bring those fireworks for nothing.

What Rhythmi had said about becoming an operator… She wasn't really sure what being an operator entailed. Actually, now that she considered it, she wasn't really aware what the details were of becoming a ranger were either, since she had only seen them once or twice while she was in the Flash Jolteons - but if it was just using the styler, than graduating would be a piece of cake, right?

After all, she only needed the title. And after that…

"Kate? Hello? Earth to Kate-O!"

"Huh? Sorry?" Kate snapped out of her reverie. She would deal with whatever happened when that came. For now-

...okay, hold up, where was she? Who was this blond, Shroomish-haired guy? Kate's eyes widened. Holy crap, had she been kidnapped? Did the police finally catch her, drag her out of the school and bring her into interrogation?

"I didn't do anything!" Kate blurted, hands up in the air. Maybe that Bidoof that she had accidentally almost stepped on had alerted the teachers to the fact that she was the leader of a dangerous gang after all. Glancing around the walls that were stacked top to bottom with books, she figured that it looked depressing enough to be an interrogation room. "I'm innocent, I swear!"

Rhythmi raised an eyebrow. "Kate-" she started to say.

Blondie lifted an arm to block her, as if to say,_ Sorry Rhythmi, but this is far too dangerous for you to handle._ "If you try exhibiting whatever you have attached to your bracelet, I'll notify the police department," he said sharply.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Mushroom-head nodded like,_ Don't you dare lie to me, you rascal._ "The translucent string double-knotted around your yellow-bead bracelet that's snaking down your arm underneath the sleeve of your school uniform."

Kate dropped her air of innocence for a more deadly one. That string was tied around her razor claw, which she had been planning to let fall into her palm and then throw when he wasn't looking. She was impressed by the depth of the training the spies that the police force decided to send to the school had done. "Kudos to you for noticing. But you're bluffing."

"Nope." Mushroom-hair held up his pencil, thumb over the almost-perfect eraser. "For emergencies, I rigged the hollow inside of this with wiring. One press of the button and I have an immediate contact to the authorities."

Kate whistled. He looked fairly confident, and he gave the feeling of being a bad liar, so she figured he wasn't making stuff up about the capabilities of his technologically advanced pencil. She decided to try a different method. "...It's not that hard to kick your 'pencil' out of your hand. Or in your balls," she added after a thought, watching the boy's serious demeanor falter with a flicker of nervousness in his eyes. "And my razor claw may not increase my speed like it does for my Pokemon, but it's plenty sharp enough to cause damage in the eyes."

"Contacts with extra reinforcement."

Kate frowned. "Do you have reinforcement in your pants too?"

"No-" he sputtered, "But-" Rhythmi couldn't help slipping a grin from behind the boy, as he turned red and his arm dropped slightly.

"...But pressing a button isn't that hard," he finally mumbled, dropping his head. "According to the calculations I did, it's virtually impossible for your foot to come into contact with me faster than my thumb can hit the trigger anyway, so it's not of any concern."

"You did calculations in your head just now?"

He shrugged, looking away. "It isn't that hard to figure out if you're solving for time. The only thing that might have been somewhat difficult was what to put as your acceleration - subtracting air resistance - but I just put in the value for the average human reaction time under distance amount, so that was a simple fix."

Kate totally had no idea what he just said, but damn, this person was amazingly talented. "You wouldn't," she snarled.

He sneaked an anxious glance at Rhythmi, who was standing behind him looking totally unfazed. "I would."

She tried one last time. "They wouldn't believe you."

"They would," Rhythmi piped up. "Isaac has an IQ of 163, and is a top student. He's awesomely smart, so all the teachers believe what he says." The boy named Isaac turned pink. Kate, having an inkling of what was up, stored this information in her head for future blackmail.

After they stared each other down for a couple minutes or so, Kate reluctantly held her hands out so he could handcuff them. She wasn't even two hours into this school yet and they had already arrested her. It was a new record. "Alright," she said grudgingly, "you won. Go ahead, asshole, take me to the head spy so he can figure out what he wants from me." Shit, now she'd have to get bloody in the hallway on their way out. She hoped The Rag would be good enough to knock him unconscious, but you never knew with child prodigies.

At this point Rhythmi seemed to be less amused and more worried. "Hey Kate," she started to say, moving forward, "he's not-"

Isaac scrambled to get in front of her, putting on a brave expression. He shot a stern glance at her. _Girlie, do not mess in the affairs of men._ "Alright then," he said nervously, taking her wrists and stretching an elastic band around them. He walked towards the end of the library, and Kate made to follow him, Rhythmi lagging behind and looking at her blade as if she was wondering how it would get her out of this predicament.

Kate eyed the elastic rubbing against her wrists. It felt like it would snap if she moved her arms too far apart, but she wasn't sure what would happen if she did. "Is this something you made too?" she asked casually as they walked down the hall, trying to figure out how she could beat him up. "Will it shock me if I try to take it off or something? Tracking device? Poison trigger?"

Isaac cleared his throat. Without looking behind him, he said, "Um, no, it's just an elastic band I found somewhere." He shrugged. "You asked to be arrested, so I figured I would handcuff you…?"

Rhythmi burst out laughing. Kate stumbled, then sped up to keep up with the two of them. "Are you serious?" she asked, wondering in the back of her head if this was some sort of trick and if she took it off, next thing she knew she would be collapsed on the floor, seven kinds of unconscious. Suddenly, something else occurred to her. "Wait, then where the hell are we even goi-"

Rhythmi, who had apparently figured it all out and had taken the lead in their expedition, slammed the door to a random classroom open. Isaac, Kate and several other students inside the classroom jumped. One fell off his chair and collapsed sideways on the ground, stiff as a board. "We have taken you to the hairspray leader!" she declared, kicking the student to the side while making her way up through the rows of desks.

"I prefer enthusiast, Rhythmi. You're very lucky I have a study right now," said a stern voice from the front of the room. Kate looked up and _woah what is up with his hair._

"Oh, I already knew you had a study. Sorry to disturb you anyway," Rhythmi said flippantly, not looking sorry in the slightest. "I'm taking a new student on a tour of the school. Kate, meet Mr. Kincaid. Mr. Kincaid, new student Kate Hitomi." She glanced at Isaac. "Wouldn't Mr. Lamont be a better head spy?"

Isaac shook his head. "Master told me to go to him if anybody spontaneously threatens someone and carries lethal weapons in the library." They both stared at him, and he hurriedly corrected, "Mr. Kincaid. That's what I meant."

"New student!" They all jumped at Mr. Kincaid's loud voice, who had somehow managed to sneak up behind them while they were talking unnoticed. Something out of Kate's jacket dropped to the ground and started giving off wispy trails of gray, and she hurriedly stomped it out before it could burst into flames. (That would _not_ make a good first impression.) "Kate Hitomi, was it? I had been hoping to meet the new student that Ms. April had told me about in the staff room the other day."

Kate looked up as soon as she was sure her shoes weren't smoking or flaming. "It's… nice to meet you," she grunted, a hand reaching out hesitantly. There was something with this guy, she decided. No one put that much hairspray into their hair just to look good. She looked down. Or shook hands that enthusiastically.

Just as she was about to take measures to slowly back away, Mr. Kincaid took whipped his hand out of her grasp and planted both of his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Kate," he said, then paused. "Kate? Do you mind if I call you that?"

(She was about to respond with something among the lines of "Yes, so back off if you know what's good for you", but unfortunately Mr. Kincaid continued before she could say anything at all.) _"Well,_ Kate," he said with the utmost seriousness, "there is one rule I would like you honor and uphold while you are in this school. Do you know what it is?"

Kate looked at him with contempt. "Is it, don't invade my personal sp-"

"Don't run in the hallways!" he shouted into her face. "Always," Mr. Kincaid started to rant, "kids, annoying little rascals, dashing, back and forth, back and forth, causing disruption left and right, crashing into things, making a mess-" He leaned in closer. "Do you want to know how many times I've had to tell students to stop running in the hallways?"

"Now, I think you've had a little_ too much_ to drink for today-"

"Three hundred fifty-seven!" he raged on. Isaac and Rhythmi remained emotionless behind him, as if this was all totally normal. "Three hundred and fifty-seven times!"

Mr. Kincaid eyed her sternly, hands placed with a crushing grip onto her shoulders. They were starting to go numb. "Be warned, new student Kate Hitomi; don't make yourself the three hundred and fifty-eighth lecture, or you will face consequences like you have never-"

Kate used her knee to sock him between the legs. As Mr. Kincaid collapsed onto the ground, writhing in the utmost pain that only socking a guy between the legs can cause, she dusted off her hands, smiled sweetly and turned around. "Don't tell me what to do!" she sang-sung. Rhythmi nodded proudly, arms crossed in front of her.

"Master!" On the other hand, there was Isaac scrambling on all fours to reach Mr. Kincaid, cradling his head between his arms. "Master, are you alright?"

"Per- Perhaps..." he wheezed, eyes closed. "The light… it is getting closer…"

"No, Master! Don't leave me!" Isaac blurted. "Maybe if I run some calculations-" He whipped his head around in a frenzy, presumably looking for pencil and paper.

Mr. Kincaid opened one eye. "Isaac, my dear boy… I need you… to tell them something…"

Isaac refocused on the teacher in his arms. "What? What is it?"

"Something… important…"

"What do you want me to tell them?" he exclaimed.

"...very important…"

Isaac shook him wildly. "You're going to run out of the minimum requirement for oxygen! Tell me what it is already!"

"Another…" He paused, gasping for breath. "Another rule."

Kate's grin faded to match Rhythmi's long-held look of disgust. They were both leaning against the wall waiting for the drama to pass so that they could go. In fact, many of the students had already left the classroom while they were talking. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Kate asked.

"Tell them…" Mr. Kincaid continued, ignoring her; "Tell them… the rule… don't cast impulsive suspicion on others without legitimate and reasonable proof," he said, all in one go. Mr. Kincaid started to convulse. (At this point Kate was sure this was an act, since she knew from experience that people didn't spasm like that.) "Goodbye, Isaac. I'll see you…" He coughed. "...this afternoon…" He coughed again. "...during your independent study in the library."

Mr. Kincaid collapsed into the crook of Isaac's elbow, suddenly going limp and playing dead.

"Master? Master Kincaid!" Isaac clutched Mr. Kincaid's hair, which had hardened due to the excessive amount of hairspray applied to it to the point of being rock-solid, and shook it violently. Kate noted from her position against the wall that Isaac was too busy sobbing things like "Master, no!" and "Why so soon?" and "You promised to teach me how to program!" to notice Mr. Kincaid wincing with every jolt on his hair. "Master, _why did you have to die?_" he cried dramatically.

Finally, Isaac pushed himself up, gently placing Mr. Kincaid's apparently lifeless corpse onto the cold and unforgiving wooden floor of the classroom. He picked up his arms and crossed them over his chest, then looked up at them wearily, sniffling. "M- Mr. Kincaid says that-"

"And that concludes this section of the tour!" Rhythmi burst out, clasping her hands together. "Okay, Kate, now that you've seen… whatever crap that was," she muttered under her breath, then put on a bright smile, "let's leave! Now!"

She seemed way too eager to exit the room. Kate honestly didn't care where they went, as long as (a) she didn't have to sit still in class, and (b) she wasn't being captured by the Almian government. As she shrugged, following her through the door, Rhythmi seemed to hesitate. "Isaac, are you coming?" she asked reluctantly, popping her head back into the classroom.

Isaac's eyes reflected the maturity of someone who had just witnessed death. "No," he said, "I think… I'll stay here." He bowed his head. "Please, as his dying wish, don't… don't run in the hallways," he choked out.

Rhythmi rolled her eyes. "We won't, stupid."

As she came back into sight, Kate was about to suggest holding a funeral later when Rhythmi started to push her by the back towards the stairwell (this, of course, was only allowed because it was Rhythmi). "And this is why I'm not a big fan of Mr. Kincaid," she huffed, Kate's heels dragging against the floor. "Dramatic and uptight at the same time. Arceus knows why Isaac adores him."

"What was up with the 'Master' thing?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, everyone in the school knows that by now," Rhythmi answered matter-of-factly. She frowned. "I think Mr. Kincaid is tutoring him separately or something. They both seem to always disappear at the same time."

One of the less painful memories Kate had of finding a couple of her gang members disappearing at the same time, she found them riding on some random fisherman's Gyarados like it was an amusement park ride. Eventually she figured out that they were looking for his one of the fisherman's missing Pokeballs, but that still didn't explain why they were surfing up and down the waterfall and congratulating each other for knocking Ryan Geribo and his Mareep into the river. She smiled bittersweetly and said, "Well, at least he still shows up."

Kate glanced behind her at the classroom, lights suspiciously turned off and somber music drifting from the open doorway. "And as long as they don't get married, it's all good."

{~}{~}{~}{~}{~}{~}{~}{~}

Extra scene:

Rhythmi turned her head past an open doorway they just walked by, then signaled for Kate to keep walking. "I was going to let you meet Mr. Lamont," she muttered, catching up, "but the Staff Room's empty. Well, whatever. Mr. Lamont is our principal!" Rhythmi grinned, and Kate looked at her questioningly. "He's super awesome; at least, he's better than Mr. Kincaid. I like him pretty well."

_Wait, the principal?_ Kate stopped in front of the stairs. "So… Mr. Lamont's the name of the principal?" she said slowly.

"Yup!" Rhythmi confirmed cheerfully. "He lectures me and Keith on not violently mauling each other during lunch and tells us to keep it outside, but other than that, he doesn't really yell at anyone at all. Keith always gets mad because he fist-bumps me and not him, even though it's way past his age. No offense to Mr. Lamont though!" she added hurriedly. "He's a good principal; take it from Rhythmi Orchard herself!"

Inwardly, Kate grinned. That sounded like him. "Ha, it's going to be weird calling that old geezer that," she laughed.

Rhythmi looked at her strangely, about to say something in return. Wait. Dammit. "Where does that go?" she interrupted, pointing at the stairway leading down as they headed up the other one.

The operator-in-training smirked when she saw what she was pointing at. "That's Mr. Kincaid's lab, but we're not allowed to go there without permission. So naturally," she continued, eyes looking up innocently, "I tied Keith up and threw him down there last week. Mr. Kincaid had a fit, I bust a rib laughing."

Kate could definitely imagine that. "Handcuffs?"

Rhythmi's eyes glinted. "Rope."

"Oi, I have handcuffs if you want them."

"No way! Seriously?"

"They're in my luggage, but I have no idea where they are."

"Probably in the dorm rooms. They're just over here. I'll trade you for three cans of whipped cream."

"The key for the handcuffs is kind of small… if you had a bucket full of whipped cream, I bet you could drop in there and no one would be able to find it."

"Or a pillowcase, right? And the signs for the girls and boys dormitories are removable too."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably. This is going to be fun."

"Well," she looked at Kate mischievously, "I wouldn't think of anything less for the new student."

At this rate, Rhythmi was going to become not only her best friend, but her partner in crime too.

The thought brought a grin to her face. "It's not as fun without an expert to show me the ropes."

* * *

_Happy New Year, everyone! Say hello to 2014! Woo!_


End file.
